My first Magazine EDUCARE MAGAZINE SPECIAL NOVEMBER EDITION 2019 | Page 8

8 educareprofile educarelearning SONA Group of Industries - The leading conglomerate in Nigeria "We believe environment is very important and when water is contaminated, it carries bacteria unless purified. We put up this plant to ensure that the water that is discharged is processed according to global best practices," he added. S ona Group of Industries with over nine subsidiaries remains the leading conglomerate in Nigeria with over 1000 staff and other auxiliary services. Demonstrating the fir m's commitment to doing business with the environment at the front burner, it recently inaugurated Effluent Treatment Plants in four of subsidiary units of Sona Group, namely: Euro Global Foods & Distilleries Limited, Sona Agro Allied Foods Limited, Food, Agro& Allied Industries Limited and Shongai Packaging Industries Limited on the same day. Two of the subsidiaries are being recognized with Educare Quality Counts Award - Euro Global Foods & Distilleries Limited, Sona Agro Allied Foods Limited. The effluent treatment plantswill treat the wastewater produced by the industries, which are undesirable by- products before release into the environment. During the commissioning ceremony, the then Commissioner for Environment, Ogun State, Bolaji Oyeleye, at the event commended the efforts and investment of Sona Group and promised that the government would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. "When we started up with them, we noticed they could do better and we started engaging with them. The result is what we are witnessing today. We want to implore them to put up this plant in any of their factories where they do not have it," he said. The Chairman, SONA Group, Arjan Mirchandani restated the group's commitment to boost local food production in Nigeria,"the Educare November 2019 Arjan Mirchandani commitment, by the company was the surest way to save Nigeria's foreign exchange spent on food products the c o u n t r y h a d c o m p e t i t ive a n d comparative advantage of producing locally" he said. According to him, Nigeria has over 50 per cent arable land that is underutilized, pointing out that the country has no business being poor if the land was put to effective use. "We are here to cultivate more agricultural produce while also producing cheap and affordable food so that everybody can get something to eat. We believe environment is very impor tant and when water is contaminated, it carries bacteria unless purified. We put up this plant to ensure that the water that is discharged is processed according to global best practices. The key is that we do not want any contamination when we are treating the water. We must be careful and mindful of the water that goes out in the environment. "When treated water is discharged it does not contaminate the surface water. We also reuse the treated water for activities gardening, horticulture. So it helps us to reduce usage of fresh ground water, which in turn helps us to balance the water level," he said. He called on the Federal Government to develop investment-friendly policies and infrastructure to attract foreign direct investments into the country. "The Federal Government has to protect, guard and develop proper policies to help businesses and create the infrastructure to attract foreign direct investments," he stated. He said the company with about 15 industries in Nigeria, currently employs over 6,000 people and plans to increase its workforce to 10,000 courtesy of its expansion programmes. "We are going to increase our capacity to about 300 per cent in the next two years because we are committed to providing quality food at affordable prices to the common man. Food requires hygiene and automation helps to ensure we reduce our cost of production . The key is how do we s t o p importatio n b y producing what the country n e e d s locally," he added. Former Commissioner for Environment Ogun State, Bolaji Oyeleye; Chairman Sona Group of Industries, Arjan Mirchandani; Chief Jackie and Human Resource Manager, Sona Group, Mr. Soji Fagbemi at the commissioning of the Effluent Treatment Plant of Sona Agro Allied Foods Limited recently in Ogun State 45 STEM Education And African Development T he current discussion of Africa's heralded economic growth and rise as a world power is leading to increased optimism and self-confidence on the continent. The discussion has revolved around the need to strengthen Africa's human capabilities to sustain such growth and ensure that the growth is accompanied by significantly less poverty and greater shared prosperity for the continent. However, the foundations of the economic performance underlying this Africa rising phenomenon are shallow. It has been predominantly based on the extraction of natural resources rather than an increase in productivity or expansion in economic sectors. Most African economies and societies continue to be dominated by the low- level processing of natural resources and the production of simple consumer goods for local consumption. Their economies have remained substantially untransformed from the colonial phase of raw material production and export. Over the last three decades, a global wave of market liberalization has produced an interconnected world Over the last three decades, a global wave of market liberalization has produced an interconnected world economy that has brought unprecedented structural changes that have placed some nations' abilities to master and utilize Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as key determinants of economic growth, development and security. economy that has brought unprecedented structural changes that have placed some nations' abilities to master and utilize Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as key determinants of economic growth, development and security. In the 1960s and 1970s, many economies in South America - such as that of Argentina - enjoyed significant capital accumulation. However, complacency and short-term approaches resulted in the failure to transition their economies to technological innovation as the basis for development. At the same time, countries such as South Korea, China and Israel consciously decided to invest substantial government revenues in building world-class laboratories to support education and research in STEM, while also enabling intellectual work in and commercial exploitation of these subjects. After a generation of investment, they have seen enormous returns as evidenced by the growth of their STEM workforce, undergirding their emergence as major players in the global science-based economy. For example, Samsung of South Korea wields global prominence in electronics today, thanks to a workforce that includes over 40,000 engineers in software development alone; and China is able to leverage its large engineering workforce to establish its footprint in Africa. Some studies attribute between 50% and 85% of US GDP growth over the past 50 years to advancements in domestic science and engineering competencies. National abilities to master and utilize science to produce technologies that Educare November 2019